Getting in the harvest mood

Sunday

PRINCETON — Wachusett Mountain’s Farm Fresh Fest combined farm-grown products, crafts and other attractions to bring out people from across the central Massachusetts region on Saturday.

Audra Kirtland, special events manager for Wachusett Mountain, said the fourth annual festival has grown over the years and was started as a way for the company to offer something new and different for the fall, in addition to their other popular events such as the apple pie contest.

“We decided to essentially create the area’s largest farmers’ market,” she said.

The Farm Fresh Fest was held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kirtland said there were 70 farmers and craft vendors in attendance; everything from fresh produce to homemaking gifts was sold.

It also featured educational programming on topics such as beekeeping, fun contests such as for homemade jams and pickles, live music, craft beer and food.

Kirtland described it as a good way to “kick-off the fall” and “celebrate our local farming.”

Wachusett Mountain partners with Central Mass Grown to run the event, a nonprofit coalition that promotes farmers in the region, encouraging people to buy local.

Some of the vendors at the event are members of the organization and have returned each year.

“We try to make connections with consumers and the general public,” said Central Mass Grown board member Sheri Bean.

Among the farmers in attendance were married couple Luke and Sonya Harms of Harms Family Farm in Colrain, a small town in Franklin County. Primarily they produce maple syrup.

“We basically make our living selling maple syrup at festivals all around like this one,” Luke Harms said.

Luke explained they make syrup “the old-fashioned way” which they believe creates a better tasting product than other methods that are less time consuming.

After the trees are tapped and the sap collected, he said it is boiled in stainless steel pans over a wood fire. One layer of cotton is used to filter the product.

It takes about 43 gallons of water to make one gallon of syrup, which Sonya said has 66 percent sugar content.

During the about two-month season beginning in mid-February when they produced maple syrup earlier this year, Luke said he and his wife worked 15 to 18 hours per day for 55 straights days, saying “that’s no exaggeration.”

“It’s quite the process. There’s not very much that compares to making maple syrup,” he said, adding that “you have to really love to do it” given how labor-intensive it is.

The couple sold different types of syrup ranging from light to dark, and allowed people to sample the varieties beforehand.

John Zook of Sterling tried some of the syrup, attending the event with his wife Tracy and daughters Emma and Mary.

Fittingly, he wore a t-shirt that said “life is too short for fake maple syrup.” He said this is the third or fourth time he and his family have gone to the Farm Fresh event, saying “I love the local food.”

Tracy Zook said maple syrup is a “nice local source for sugar” that the family uses as their preferred sweetener.

Another vendor in attendance was Phillipston resident Tom Brouillet, who runs his own company Baldwin Hill Candle Co. on his property, which he said he has been doing for 10 years.

He uses soy wax to make the candles, which are placed in unique-looking containers. He said essential oils are used to create the many different scents the candles come in, such as cinnamon.

He added that making the wax from soy is a way to support American soy farmers as well as make a high-quality product.

“There are no chemicals. It burns longer; it burns cleaner,” he said.

The Farm Fresh Fest also featured family-friendly activities that appeal to young children, including a bouncy house and petting zoo. Parents Kevin and Wendy Kam of Ashland took their son Anthony, 2, and daughter Abigail, 4.

“It’s just a nice day out with little kids,” Wendy Kam said.

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